1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cardiac monitoring systems and, more particularly, to cardiac monitoring systems which provide an analysis and display of parameters relating to the condition of ischemic patients.
2. Description of the Related Art
A number of new clog dissolving agents presented by the pharmaceutical industry during the past couple of years have given cardiologists the ability to immediately treat acute myocardial ischemias through chemical thrombolytic therapy. However, it is frequently difficult to properly control and adjust such therapy during the acute phase of a myocardial ischemia. Known methods are either expensive or have too large a delay (up to several hours) between the time of the myocardial ischemia time and the presentation of the results.
Some cardiac monitoring systems and methods also utilize a known 12-lead ECG in which ECG signals are displayed directly on a monitor in real-time. Such a 12-lead ECG arrangement has the disadvantages that a large number of electrodes must be placed on the patient in positions which cover mainly the frontal parts of the myocardium. A large storage capacity is also required in order to record all the ECG signals from the electrodes. However, many doctors are familiar with the format of the 12-lead ECG.